Migrant Farm Workers In Minnesota: 12 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week

The Myth of the Lazy Immigrants Exposed

Minnesota Public Radio has a news story about the 20,000+ migrant workers that come to that state each year to pick vegetables.  The title of the story,

The Face of Hunger: Migrant workers in southern Minnesota

The highlights (or lowlights):

A number of the workers arrive with almost nothing, having spent the money they made the year before.  By the time they pay their housing expenses and gas, there's little left for food at the start of the summer.

Jesus Garza, a laborer, has been coming to Minnesota since he was 16, following in his father's footsteps. He makes $10 an hour. Others make less.   His wife inspects peas. They'll save as much money as they can before heading back to Texas in the fall, then use those funds to pay living expenses there. Their savings, and some unemployment, should help them make it through the winter


"It's not only us; we got the kids," Garza said. "That's what our worry is, 'cause they gotta eat. We can be two to three days with water, maybe something just light. But they don't wait." Now that both Jesus and Jessica Garza are working, the family has plenty of food. They work 12-hour days, often seven days a week. They're grateful for the jobs.


Jesus Garza also will leave when fall arrives, but he'll do one other thing before he heads out -- donate to the food shelf.

So when Eric Cantor (R, Va), House Majority Leader and  the leading opponent of government programs that help people like the Garzas' starts talking about cutting entitlements, ask him if he ever worked an 84 hour week at hard labor for about $10.00 an hour, or if he first worked in the family business and then has had a cushy government job with a high salary and great benefits all paid for by taxpayers. 

Don't bother to look it up, you know the answer.